Liver, You Should Have Come Over...

....for dinner!!! Or breakfast, lunch or snack!

Yes, LIVER is such a wonderful addition to your diet during your pre-conception phase, whether you're the egg provider, or the sperm.

Let's have a quick squiz on why you should add liver to your diet if you're TTC!

I'm sure we can all agree, liver and other organ meats was not something we were brought up with thinking "mmm delicious", because it was not in our typical standard Australian diet. Liver and other organ meats is however eaten in many cultures. It's not just sustainably the right way to eat an animal, but in terms of our health - organ meats are incredibly nutrient rich. Liver is richer in micronutrients than virtually any other food (!) With it's concentrations of choline, copper, zinc, iron, vitamin A (aka retinol), vitamin K, B vitamins and folate (all essential for conception, pregnancy and the development of the foetus).

We often hear just how important it is to be on a "folic acid supplement" during preconception and when pregnant. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate aka vitamin B9. Liver is incredibly rich in folate. This B vitamin is important for egg quality, the prevention of certain birth defects and early embryonic development. Liver contains 4x more folate than the same quantity of spinach (which is the green veggie with the most folate). The folate obtained from food is far more superior than that found in a supplement. See my previous blog post on folic acid v methylated folate on why some women have an issue with folic acid due to the MTHFR enzyme.

Eating liver helps to ensure you obtain the form of folate your body can fully utilise, no matter your genetics.

The B vitamins in liver are important for folate as they work in synergy to support folate metabolism and methylation. This also includes choline, zinc, inositol and iron. Methylation is a very important process in your body that takes place in every cell which affects cell division and gene expression. This is essential for egg and sperm quality as well as all stages of conception, pregnancy, foetal growth and development; the cells are dividing rapidly.

This is another reflection on why PRE-conception care is so crucial. It's the first 5-8 weeks of pregnancy we have this high demand for these key nutrients, thus sufficient levels before falling pregnant in the months leading up to conception is so important!!

One of the MVP in conception is B12. Liver packs a punch of B12! It is a fertility-enhancing nutrient which improves sperm quality; specifically through increasing sperm count and enhancing sperm motility and reducing sperm DNA damage. B12 in women supports their fertility by improving egg health, preventing neural tube defects and facilitating implantation. There are links with B12 deficiency to infertility and recurrent miscarriage.

Choline is another MVP in conception, as it's essential for prevention of neural tube defects as well as supporting the foetus' brain development and enhancing EPA in baby's brain. The choline found in beef liver for instance, at 100g serve provides 425mg of choline, which meets the daily recommended intake for women.

Liver is incredibly rich in fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E, K. These vitamins are necessary for fertilisation and early embryo development. I did a blog post on vitamin A in pregnancy to shed more light on this fat-soluble.

We need fat-soluble vitamins to absorb other nutrients from our foods such as vitamin D for calcium! Calcium is really important for cervical mucous production, another important process in making a baby.

Vitamin A is essential for sperm and testosterone production, which could explain why men who consume liver in their diet regularly have significantly higher sperm counts compared to those who don't.

Look, I am not being all "Liver-King- go - eat - raw - liver - and - shred" on you, no.

What I am suggesting, speaking from the evidence on this, is that having liver in your diet could be an offaly good call during your preconception period ;)

If you're like me, and don't enjoy cooking it - you can choose to use liver powders/capsules instead or frozen liver. If you are looking for liver and don't know where to begin, find an ethical butcher and see if they sell organic liver. The liver is the organ responsible for filtering toxins and storing nutrients. That being said, animals who are fed a species-appropriate diet often have a lower toxin exposure. Seeking liver from a healthy, pasture-raised animal is ideal.

Frozen because it's easy to then grate it in to meals/smoothies/into your cooking. You won't even taste it!

Capsules, down the hatch with a chaser! Too easy.

Powder, just like the frozen liver - sprinkle into your meals, in to a smoothie etc.

You can order some powder through my vital.ly.

Another great option is trying some pâté such as Offaly Good or City Lardner. Enjoyable with some seedy crackers or veggie sticks!

So, are we as game as our ancestors, nose-to-tail? Maybe not, but we can add liver in, in a much sneakier way and still reap the INCREDIBLE benefits for both egg, sperm and foetal health.

Tell me, is liver something you're currently adding to your diet often or willing to??

references:

PMID: 28783055

PMID: 22978268

PMID: 32032459

PMID: 20137054

PMID: 32057251